Recent Articles
How Not to Authorize Force Against ISIS: A Response to Jack Goldsmith
Over at Lawfare, Jack Goldsmith appears to suggest that President Obama’s decision to authorize limited uses of force in Iraq underscores the need for an open-ended congressional…
President Authorizes Airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq—But how limited is it?
On Thursday night, President Obama announced that he has authorized airstrikes “if necessary” for “two missions” in Iraq (full text of the President’s statement). Mission…
The Needle in the Haystack: Finding the Women, Peace and Security Norms in the Gaza Conflict
Operation Protective Edge and the costs of war in the latest round of the Israel-Palestine conflict have dominated all our newspaper headlines in the past month. Images of harm…
Inspectors General Information Access Complaints
Earlier this week, 47 Inspectors General (IGs) across the federal government signed a letter to congressional oversight committees complaining about impediments to access to information…
Judge Bates (Unintentionally) Makes the Case for FISC Reform
Whatever one thinks of the Senate version of the USA FREEDOM Act–which offers a series of substantive and procedural reforms to U.S. surveillance programs–it is now…
Who does the New York Times think is a combatant in Gaza?
There is a strange quality to today’s story by the New York Times on the civilian casualty rate in Gaza (“Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead from the Gaza Conflict”).…
News Roundup and Notes: August 6, 2014
Starting tomorrow (August 7th), Just Security’s News Roundup will be taking a brief August recess through August 17th. We’ll be back on August 18th, following the brief…
Guest Post: Has Hamas Overplayed Its Lawfare Strategy?
In the current Gaza conflict, the adversaries are employing very different strategies to achieve their operational objectives. Israel is executing a robust military strategy. By…
Myth Busting?: NSA Mass Foreign Surveillance Over 30 Years Ago
NSA surveillance, in the context of post-9/11 counterterrorism, is often characterized by an exceptional technological capacity and strategic commitment to “Collect It All.”…
News Roundup and Notes: August 5, 2014
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. Israel-Palestine A 72-hour…
A Primer on the Laws of War that Apply to the Gaza Conflict
We were about to produce a primer on the law of war framework that governs the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. However, Human Rights Watch has just posted what we think is an excellent…
U.S. Edges Back Toward Landmine Treaty Path
After an agonizing five-year wait, the US announced the initial results of its landmine policy review on June 27, the final day of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Third Review Conference…